爸爸 (bà ba) — dad, father | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Everyday spoken word for 'dad, father.' More casual than the written 父亲; 爹 is a northern/rural dialect term for the same person.

noun

dadfather

Measure word · 个, 位

Examples

爸爸。
Wǒ bà ba shì lǎo shī.
My dad is a teacher.
爸爸？
Nǐ bà ba hěn ài nǐ ma?
Does your dad love you?
爸爸。
Nà wèi bà ba zài jiā.
That father is at home.

Origin

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

爸bàfather

爸bàfather

爸 names father, and repeating it makes the familiar form 爸爸 for dad.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

父巴爸

Meaning part形符xíngfú

父父fùfather

Sound part声符shēngfú

巴

巴bā爸bà

Same sound today

爸 has 父, meaning father, on top and 巴 below, which gives the sound bā.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

父巴爸

Meaning part形符xíngfú

父父fùfather

Sound part声符shēngfú

巴

巴bā爸bà

Same sound today

爸 has 父, meaning father, on top and 巴 below, which gives the sound bā.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 1 500 Most Frequent Chinese Words HSK 2.0 Level 1 1000 Most Frequent Chinese Words Family & Kinship 2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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